The next big business trend that we are going to see, and that is happening already, is not only that aboriginal businesses are going to be stronger components of the corporate supply chain, but we are also going to see them as stronger proponents of equity positions and actual partners within resource projects.

JP Gladu of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business discusses native participation in resource industries...Read More

Posts tagged ‘zinc’

“Building momentum” is the way Saville Resources TSXV:SRE president Mike Hodge puts it. Steady progress, shown most recently through another encouraging sampling program, puts the company’s early-stage niobium-tantalum project in Quebec on track for drilling this winter. Assays so far have the company hopeful about proving up a maiden resource in this mining-friendly jurisdiction next door to a country increasingly concerned about sourcing critical metals.

Conducted by Dahrouge Geological Consulting, the fall program brought the Niobium claim group to drill-ready status.

The autumn field program met all of its objectives, Hodge enthuses. Twenty-two boulder samples surpassed 0.7% Nb2O5, with 14 of them exceeding 0.8% and one peaking at 1.5%. Tantalum made its presence known too. Those same 14 niobium samples also graded between 160 ppm and 1,080 ppm Ta2O5.

The project gained yet another target, where boulders reached 0.88% and 1.28% Nb2O5. A ground magnetics survey highlighted the prospectivity of the Moira area, already the location of exceptionally high-grade samples. In all, the results show a drill-ready project that should see action this winter.

Saville holds a 75% earn-in from Commerce Resources TSXV:CCE on the Niobium claim group, a 1,223-hectare package on the latter company’s Eldor property in Quebec. Just a few kilometres from the Niobium project and with obvious synergistic potential for Saville, Commerce has its Ashram rare earths deposit moving towards pre-feasibility. All this takes place in a province that demonstrates its support for mining through a number of initiatives, including direct investment and the Plan Nord infrastructure program. The northeastern Quebec region has two treaties in place that clearly define procedures for native consultation. Saville’s three-quarters stake in the Niobium claim group calls for $5 million in work over five years.

A 43-101 technical report filed in September followed field programs by previous companies including 41 holes totalling 8,175 metres drilled by Commerce. In addition to niobium-tantalum, the report noted phosphate and fluorspar as potential secondary commodities.

Some of the standout results from previous sampling came from the property’s as-yet undrilled Miranna area, where boulder samples graded as high as 2.75%, 4.24%, 4.3% and an exceptional 5.93% Nb2O5.

Other locations have been drilled, but not since 2010. Some 17 holes and 4,328 metres on the Southeast area brought near-surface highlights that include:

As in the Southeast, the Northwest area showed encouraging signs of tantalum and phosphate. But tantalum came through most strongly in the property’s Star Trench area, with results as high as 1,810 ppm Ta2O5 (with 1.5% Nb2O5) over 0.52 metres, as well as 2,220 ppm Ta2O5 (with 1.69% Nb2O5, and phosphate grading 20.5% P2O5) over 0.31 metres.

Another area gains greater prominence too, thanks to this autumn’s ground magnetics survey. A strong anomaly at the Moira target, about 250 metres north of Miranna, coincides with several overlapping boulder trains that suggest Moira could be one of several possible sources of mineralization.

And a new, yet-to-be-named area gave up two of the fall program’s best assays. About 400 metres south of the drill area, the new target produced boulder samples hitting 1.28% Nb2O5 and 260 ppm Ta2O5, along with 0.88% Nb2O5 and 1,080 ppm Ta2O5.

Intriguingly, glacial ice suggests the two rocks, found about 100 metres apart, originated in an area farther southeast that’s had very little attention so far.

Saville also holds the 3,370-hectare Covette project in Quebec’s James Bay region, where last summer’s field program found surface samples including 1.2% zinc and 68.7 g/t silver. Three other samples returned nickel values ranging from 0.13% to 0.19%.

Work focused on a highly conductive area identified by a 2016 VTEM survey. Samples gathered in 2017 included grades of 0.18% nickel, 0.09% copper and 87 ppm cobalt. One historic, non-43-101 grab sample brought 4.7% molybdenum, 0.73% bismuth, 0.09% lead and 6 g/t silver, while another historic sample returned 1.2 g/t silver and 0.18% copper.

As for niobium, it’s considered a critical metal by the American government for its use in steels and super-alloys necessary for jet engine components, rocket sub-assemblies, and heat-resisting and combustion equipment, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Almost 90% of last year’s world production came from Brazil, where new president Jair Bolsonaro has expressed concern about increasing Chinese ownership of resources.

Also a component of military super-alloys, tantalum additionally plays a vital role in personal electronics including phones and computers. The U.S. imports its entire supply of tantalum. About 60% of last year’s world production came from the troubled countries of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

With the advantages of markets, jurisdiction and geology, Hodge looks forward to winter drilling. “We’ve now got about 20 targets that we can go after,” he says. “One priority would be to define the Southeast area because we’ve got such good niobium numbers there. On getting a potential inferred resource, we’d go after Miranna or Moira and the untested targets. We’re looking forward to a busy, productive season.”

Read more about U.S. efforts to secure critical minerals here and here.

Canada’s hitting a six-year high in exploration spending

Blockchain might offer intrigue and cannabis promises a buzz, but mineral exploration still attracts growing interest. A healthy upswing this year will bring Canadian projects a nearly 8% spending increase to $2.36 billion, the industry’s highest amount since 2012. According to recently released data, that’s part of an international trend that puts Canada at the top of a worldwide resurgence.

The $2.36 billion allotted for Canadian exploration and deposit appraisal forms just a small part of the year’s total mineral resource development investments, which see $11.86 billion committed to this country, up from $10.61 billion in 2017.

Those numbers come from Natural Resources Canada, which surveyed companies between April and September on their spending intentions within the country for 2018. The $2.36-billion figure includes engineering, economic and feasibility studies, along with environmental work and general expenses.

Of that number, Quebec edges out Ontario for first place with $623.1 million in spending this year, 26.4% of Canada’s total. Ontario’s share comes to $567.5 million or 24%. Last year’s totals came to $573.9 million for Quebec and $539.7 million for its western neighbour. Prior to that, however, Ontario held a comfortable lead year after year.

Third-place British Columbia gets $335.5 million or 14.2% of Canada’s total this year, an increase from $302.6 million in 2017.

On a per-capita basis, Yukon’s enjoying an exceptional year with an expected $249.4 million or 10.6% of Canada’s total. That’s the territory’s second substantial increase in a row, following $168.7 million the previous year.

Saskatchewan dips this year to $187.2 million (7.9%) from $191.2 million in 2017. But the Fraser Institute’s last survey of mining jurisdictions placed the province first in Canada and second worldwide.

Nunavut drops too, for the third consecutive time, to $143.9 million (6.1%), compared with $177 million in 2017. The Northwest Territories’ forecast declines to $86.2 million (3.7%) this year after $91.2 million last year.

Especially troubling when contrasted with Yukon’s performance, data for the other territories prompted NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines president Gary Vivian to call on federal, territorial and native governments and boards to help the industry “by creating certainty around land access, by reducing unnecessary complexity and by addressing the higher costs they face working in the North. Sustaining and growing future mining benefits depend on it.”

The pursuit of precious metals accounts for $1.5 billion in spending, nearly 64% of Canadian exploration. Ontario gets almost 31% of the precious metals attention, with 27% going to Quebec.

Base metals, mostly in Quebec, B.C. and Ontario, get 15.5% of the year’s total. Uranium gets 5%, almost entirely in Saskatchewan. Diamonds get nearly 4%, most of it going to the NWT and Saskatchewan. But nearly 11% of this year’s total goes to a category vaguely attributed to other metals, along with coal and additional non-metals.

Getting back to this year’s exploration total ($2.36 billion, remember?), senior companies commit themselves to nearly 55%, compared with nearly 51% last year. But the juniors’ share remains proportionately much larger than the pre-2017 years.

Additional encouragement—and on an international level—comes from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Using different methodology to produce different results, the Metals and Mining Research team found worldwide budgets for nonferrous exploration jumping 19% this year to $10.1 billion.

Juniors have been reaping the biggest budget gains at 35%. Over 1,651 functional exploration companies represent an 8% improvement over last year and the first such increase since 2012. But that’s “still about 900 companies less than in 2012, representing a one-third culling of active explorers over the past five years.”

The most dramatic spending increase hit cobalt and lithium, this year undergoing an 82% leap in exploration spending. That’s part of a 500% climb since 2015, SPGMI says.

Even so, precious and base metals retained their prominence as gold continues “to benefit the most from the industry recovery.” The global strive for yellow metal will claim $4.86 billion this year, up from $4.05 billion in 2017. Base metals spending will grow by $600 million to $3.04 billion. “Copper remained by far the most attractive of the base metals, although zinc allocations have increased the most, rising 37% in 2018, the report states. “Budgets are up for all targets except uranium.”

SPGMI finds Canada keeping its global top spot for nonferrous exploration with a 31% year-on-year budget increase. Second-place Australia achieved a 23% rise. The U.S. total places third, although with a 34% increase over the country’s 2017 performance.

In each of the top three countries, over 55% of the budgets focused on gold.

“Improved metals prices and margins since 2016 have encouraged producers to expand their organic efforts the past two years,” commented SPGMI’s Mark Ferguson. “Over the same period, equity market support for the junior explorers has improved, leading to an uptick in the number and size of completed financings. This allowed the group to increase exploration budgets by 35% in 2018.”

92 Resources’ James Bay-region Corvette property features drill-ready targets as well as 15 kilometres of potential strike to evaluate.

An early-stage but steadily advancing project shows 92 Resources TSXV:NTY focusing firmly on northern Quebec’s lithium. Successful field work so far has inspired two large property expansions, one in a deal with Osisko Mining TSX:OSK. Now with about 15 kilometres of potential strike length in one package, 92 hopes to prove up grade and tonnage to bring its Corvette property to an advanced level.

A series of outcrops reveals lithium along with tantalum occurring in spodumene-bearing pegmatite over at least two sub-parallel structures, explains Darren Smith. “We have drill-ready targets as well as lots of highly prospective ground to explore.” Having worked with the company for about two years through Dahrouge Geological Consulting and been a 92 advisory board member since July, he’s obviously enthusiastic about the project.

And as a resident of Quebec City, he likes the jurisdiction too. “Quebec offers a lot of provincial support for mining,” Smith points out. “Also our Quebec projects fall within the James Bay Northern Quebec Agreement, which has structures in place for First Nations engagement and resource management.”

Corvette marked a change of direction for the company, after 92 optioned its Hidden Lake lithium property in the Northwest Territories to Far Resources CSE:FAT last January. Despite that project’s favourable sampling and metallurgical results, 92 saw even greater potential in its Quebec acquisitions. The theory found support from subsequent channel sampling grades and widths.

In September 92 released assays from 40 channel samples taken on the property’s CV1 pegmatite that averaged 1.35% Li2O. Tantalum showed up too, grading an average 109 ppm Ta2O5. Some highlights revealed:

1.54% Li2O and 136 ppm Ta2O5 over 8 metres

1.77% Li2O and 54 ppm Ta2O5 over 6 metres

1.36% Li2O and 128 ppm Ta2O5 over 11 metres

1.2% Li2O and 128 ppm Ta2O5 over 4 metres

1.02% Li2O and 95 ppm Ta2O5 over 11 metres

About 50 metres north, the CV2 pegmatite showed:

0.73% Li2O and 140 ppm Ta2O5 over 4 metres

0.55% Li2O and 136 ppm Ta2O5 over 4 metres

True widths weren’t known.

Another promising development was the discovery of two more spodumene-bearing pegmatites. A grab sample grading 1.61% Li2O came from CV3, about 250 metres south of CV1. A 0.74% grab sample marked CV4, about three kilometres northeast and along strike of CV1.

Corvette outcrops can host a helicopter as well as spodumene-bearing pegmatite.

“We’re looking for tonnage and grade, and the grade has been demonstrated to be quite favourable,” Smith says. “The program added more tonnage potential through the CV3 and CV4 pegmatites, which show there might be multiple parallel structures. Because we have large occurrences over a three-kilometre strike length, it is inferred that it could be decent depth and that’s how to build tonnage. So now we have a structure over three kilometres along strike with mineralized spodumene-bearing pegmatite at either end. This is very positive because pegmatites tend to occur in swarms and congregations.”

The potential strike could be much greater yet, thanks to recent property expansions. In August the company staked another 4,918 hectares, more than doubling Corvette’s size. The following month 92 announced a 75% earn-in on Osisko’s neighbouring FCI claims, adding 14,034 hectares to the project and putting a potential strike of 15 kilometres into one package.

“Satellite imagery suggests favourable-looking outcrops there as well, so we’re pretty excited about that. We now have a lot of strike length that remains to be evaluated on the joint venture with Osisko, as well as drill-ready targets on the CV1 and 2 pegmatites.”

With a $250,000 work commitment for year one, FCI might take precedence over CV1 and 2. Plans will be determined shortly by a committee made up of two reps from each company. Osisko will act as operator on FCI in accordance with a previous ownership agreement.

Interestingly, that was the report that tipped off 92 about Corvette’s lithium potential. Not focused on the energy metal, Virginia just briefly noted the presence of pegmatite. Intrigued, 92 made an initial one-day visit in October 2017 “and saw massive spodumene sparkling on this big outcrop,” remembers Smith. Grab samples revealed 0.8%, 3.48% and 7.32% Li2O from the then-unnamed CV1 pegmatite and 1.22% from CV2, which also returned 90 ppm Ta2O5.

Currently helicopter-accessible, the exploration area sits about 15 kilometres south of the all-season Trans-Taiga Road and transmission line.

92’s also been busy with lithium-bearing pegmatite on its Pontax project, roughly 260 crow-flying kilometres southwest of Corvette. A week of work curtailed by last summer’s forest fires brought one grab sample grading 0.94% Li2O and 520 ppm Ta2O5, while another taken 600 metres away showed 0.72% Li2O and 87 ppm Ta2O5. A third sample taken another 1.3 kilometres along strike assayed 631 ppm Ta2O5 and an anomalous 0.02% Li2O.

“The samples come from an area of large outcrops that likely connect. The samples are random and separated by a decent distance, so they’re probably representative,” says Smith. “It’s a very good secondary project that complements Corvette.”

The company holds two other James Bay-region properties hosting pegmatite, Eastmain and Lac du Beryl. Looking at an entirely different energy-related commodity, 92 filed a 43-101 technical report for the Golden frac sand project in southern British Columbia last April. Located adjacent to the Moberly silica mine where Northern Silica restarted operations last year, Golden “hits the criteria for grade, rail and other infrastructure, proximity to markets and commodity demand,” says Smith.

As for Corvette, “I think it has enormous potential. It has a lot of tonnage potential, it’s in a new area, the geology works and the next program could really make the difference. So it’s positioned with a maximum amount of upside. The Osisko deal is very positive too and they’re a good partner to have, so I think 92 is well-positioned to really maximize the value of this asset.”

More assays from hole KB-3 at Nevada’s Kibby Basin project show additional lithium at depths between 387.3 metres and 548.4 metres. Earlier this month Belmont Resources TSXV:BEA and MGX Minerals CSE:XMG announced KB-3 results for a section between 338.5 and 369 metres in depth which averaged 415 parts per million lithium and reached a high of 580 ppm. The latest batch comes from 25 core samples representing different lithologies. Twenty of the samples surpassed 100 ppm lithium, with seven of them exceeding 375 ppm. One sample matched the high reported on September 12 of 580 ppm.

Kibby Basin’s first hole of the season continues to deliver.

Ash layers accounted for four samples below 100 ppm, “suggesting that initial lithium content may have been leached from the porous ash layers and transported to brines elsewhere in the basin,” the companies stated.

KB-3 tested the southern part of a strong magnetotelluric conductor that “still has potential for saturated sediments containing lithium-rich brines.” Geophysical data suggests a second hole might similarly find an aquifer between 274.5 and 305 metres and reduced clays potentially with high lithium content below 305 metres’ depth.

Comparing Kibby Basin with the lithium-producing Clayton Valley 50 kilometres south, Belmont and MGX note similarities in a “closed structural basin, a large conductor at depth, lithium anomalies at surface and depth, evidence of a geothermal system and potential aquifers in porous ash and gravel zones.”

MGX is working on its initial 25% of a possible 50% earn-in for the 2,056-hectare project. Last May the company’s rapid lithium extraction technology won the Base and Specialty Metals Industry Leadership Award at the 2018 S&P Global Platts Global Metals Awards in London.

Belmont also holds the Mid-Corner/Johnson Croft property in New Brunswick, where historic, non-43-101 samples suggest potential for zinc, copper and cobalt. In northern Saskatchewan Belmont and International Montoro Resources TSXV:IMT each hold a 50/50 share of two uranium properties.

An historic British Columbia mining camp comes under additional scrutiny with new research released September 28. Geoscience BC’s latest report and 1:50,000-scale map focus on the province’s south-central Greenwood district, about 500 kilometres east of Vancouver.

Mining on the 800-square-kilometre area dates back to the late 1880s. Some 26 past-producers have given up more than 1.2 million ounces of gold and over 270,000 tonnes of copper, along with silver, lead and zinc, according to the independent non-profit organization. With a number of juniors currently working to find more mineralization, this research “should bolster the recent revival of mineral exploration activity in the Greenwood area,” said Geoscience BC VP of minerals and mining Bruce Madu.

Mining may one day return to the once-busy Greenwood camp.(Photo: Geoscience BC)

Among the active companies is Grizzly Discoveries TSXV:GZD, which holds about 72,840 hectares of Greenwood turf. Under a 75% earn-in, Kinross Gold TSX:K has been drilling for gold in the Midway area of Grizzly’s holdings. Grizzly has been conducting geophysics and surface exploration on its Robocop cobalt-copper-silver claims and plans drilling for three other Greenwood targets.

Just across the international border, Kinross operated the Kettle River-Buckhorn gold mine until last year, extracting 1.3 million ounces over nine years.

Another of Greenwood’s large landholders is Golden Dawn Minerals TSXV:GOM, which attributes 31 historic mines to its 15,400-hectare portfolio.

The Greenwood report might help illuminate other parts of B.C. as well. “This area could hold the key to a better understanding of mineral deposits that formed during key geological events that span almost 200 million years,” Madu added.

Working with First Nations, local communities, governments, academia and the resource sector, Geoscience BC opens its research to the public “with the aim of encouraging exploration, economic activity and informed land use decisions.” Most funding comes from the provincial government.

Encouraging assays and heightening concern for critical minerals bring an exploration team back to Saville Resources’ (TSXV:SRE) Niobium claim group in Quebec’s Labrador Trough region. The program follows earlier drilling as well as more recent niobium-tantalum boulder samples that reached as high as 4.3% Nb2O5 and 700 ppm Ta2O5. With work carried out by Dahrouge Geological Consulting, the autumn agenda calls for prospecting and ground geophysics to identify future drill targets.

A view from a ridge on Saville Resources’ Niobium claim group, now progressing towards an updated geological model.

The 1,223-hectare project sits on the Eldor property which also hosts Commerce Resources’ (TSXV:CCE) Ashram rare earths deposit, now moving towards pre-feasibility. Under an agreement with Commerce, Saville may earn 75% of the Niobium claim group. The company has two weeks planned for the current campaign.

A 43-101 technical report filed earlier this month “concludes there is a ‘strong potential for carbonatite-hosted niobium-tantalum deposit(s) of significance’,” noted president Mike Hodge. “Discoveries start with boots on the ground and we look forward to following this work up with an aggressive and targeted drill campaign to further unlock this potential.”

Among places slated for ground magnetics is the Southeast area, where mineralization is often associated with magnetite. Prospecting will focus on relatively untouched areas but also the vicinity of drill programs dating to 2008 and 2010. Hole EC10-033 returned 0.72% Nb2O5 and 145 ppm Ta2O5 over 21.35 metres, starting just below overburden at 4.22 metres’ depth. The same hole also delivered 0.82% Nb2O5 over 21.89 metres starting at 58.9 metres.

The shallow intersections “indicate that strong mineralization extends to surface in the immediate area,” the company stated. “In terms of ground follow-up, there is a sizable corridor to the south of EC10-033 that has not been traversed and is therefore a high-priority area for assessment.”

Results from the program will help update the Southeast area’s geological model, which currently dates to 2010 despite an improved understanding of the Eldor complex. A partial photo re-log of the core, a revised rock classification scheme, geophysical results and other data will delineate future drill targets.

Reporting from Quebec’s James Bay region last month, Saville announced a new zinc-silver-nickel zone at surface on the company’s Covette property. Sampling took place along an area hosting strong magnetic anomalies and several EM conductors, with one sample grading 1.2% zinc and 68.7 g/t silver, and three others ranging from 0.13% to 0.19% nickel.

Also last month Saville closed an $877,700 first tranche of a private placement offered in July up to $2 million.

Invest your capital in a jurisdiction that doesn’t respect that investment, or in a place with little geological potential, and it’s possible that it will end up going to waste.

That’s why, when there’s a place on the map that has world-class geology and also a plan for working with miners and new explorers, the money begins to flow to take advantage of that potential.

Why investors are looking at the Yukon

This infographic comes to us from the Yukon Mining Alliance and it shows nine reasons why people are investing in Yukon mining and exploration companies today.

For resource investors, it is rare to see variables like government investment, jurisdiction, geological potential and investment from major mining companies all aligning.

However, in the Yukon, it seems this may be the case. Here are nine reasons the Yukon is starting to attract more investment capital:

1. Rich historyMining was central to the Yukon even over a century ago, when over 100,000 fortune-seekers stampeded into the Yukon with the goal of striking it rich in the famous Klondike Gold Rush.

2. Geological profileIn the last decade, there have been major discoveries of gold, silver, copper, zinc and lead in the Yukon—but perhaps most interestingly, only 12% of the Yukon has been staked, making the region highly under-explored. Spending on exploration and development rose from $93 million to $158 million from 2015 to 2017.

4. Leaders in exploration and miningJuniors in the region are working on new geological ideas as well as new technology to unlock the vast potential of the region.

5. Progressive partnershipsFirst Nations and the government of Yukon have recently championed a new government-to-government relationship that enables them to be on the exact same page when it comes to mineral projects.

6. Government investmentThe Yukon government is investing in new infrastructure via the Resource Gateway project. It also offers the Yukon Mineral Exploration Program, which provides a portion of risk capital to explore and develop mineral projects to an advanced stage.

7. Made in Yukon processThe Yukon government also tries to foster regulatory certainty to create clarity for companies and investors through its customized tri-party process.

8. InfrastructureThe jurisdiction has 5,000 kilometres of government-maintained roads, receives 95% of power from clean hydro, has international and local airports, and has access to three deep-water, ice-free ports.

9. Geopolitical stabilityCanada offers geopolitical stability to start with—but with unprecedented cooperation between the territorial government and First Nations, the Yukon is arguably a step above the rest of the country.

A company focused on base metals in two continents has broadened its approach by moving into a lithium-producing neighbourhood. By exercising its 100% option, Emerita Resources TSXV:EMO picks up the Falcon Litio MG project, half a kilometre from the Companhia Brasileira de Litio lithium deposit currently being mined. Initial field work on Falcon has found pegmatite dykes similar to mineralized dykes on CBL’s property.

Located in eastern Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, the region is hardly new to Emerita. The state also hosts the company’s 75%-held Salobro zinc project, where drilling wrapped up in July with an initial release of high-grade assays. Vale NYSE:VALE had previously attributed the property with an historic, non-43-101 estimate of 8.3 million tonnes averaging 7.12% zinc-equivalent for 1.3 million zinc-equivalent pounds, using a 3.5% zinc-lead cutoff. Emerita has a 43-101 resource due imminently.

But location was just part of the reason Emerita considered Falcon to be “an exceptional opportunity to add value at a low cost,” said CEO David Gower. “There has been interest expressed by third parties in potentially getting involved in the Litio project.”

Emerita gets Falcon on issuing a third tranche of 500,000 shares. The vendor retains a 2% NSR. Should the project achieve a resource showing at least 20 million tonnes averaging 1.3% Li2O, with at least half in the indicated or measured categories, Emerita pays the vendor $5 million cash or issues an equal amount in shares.

Besides the two Brazilian projects, the company holds three properties in Spain: Plaza Norte, a 50/50 joint venture on a zinc-lead past-producer; Aznalcollar, with an historic, non-43-101 zinc-lead-copper estimate; and Paymogo, with two historic, non-43-101 zinc-lead estimates.

Sixty-five kilometres north of Nevada’s Clayton Valley, encouraging assays from the first hole of the year averaged 415 parts per million lithium at Kibby Basin, with a high of 580 ppm. Belmont Resources’ (TSXV:BEA) earn-in partner MGX Minerals CSE:XMG collected 125 samples from mud rotary drilling to 387 metres in downhole depth, then continued with small-diameter core drilling to 548 metres.

With promising results from the program’s first hole, Belmont Resources and MGX Minerals have more drilling planned.

The assays came from a section between 338.5 and 369 metres in depth. Results are pending for 25 core samples from the lower section, as well as for water samples. This hole targeted the southern area of a large magnetotelluric conductor, finding four zones of sand and gravel that might represent brine-bearing aquifers, with one zone showing a potential major aquifer.

A second hole is in the planning stages. Last year’s two-hole campaign, prior to the MT geophysics program, brought assays between 70 ppm and 200 ppm Li2O, with 13 of 25 samples surpassing 100 ppm.

MGX is working towards an initial 25% of the project, with the option of increasing its stake to 50%. Similarities between Kibby Basin and Clayton Valley include a “closed structural basin, large conductor at depth, lithium anomalies at surface and depth, evidence of a geothermal system and potential aquifers in porous ash and gravel zones,” the companies stated.

Belmont closed a private placement totalling $375,000 in July.

In New Brunswick the company holds the Mid-Corner/Johnson Croft property, where historic, non-43-101 sampling suggests zinc, copper and cobalt potential. Belmont also shares a 50/50 stake in two Saskatchewan uranium properties with International Montoro Resources TSXV:IMT.

A property with limited exploration but encouraging geophysics shows further promise following a recent field program. Of eight surface samples collected by Saville Resources TSXV:SRE on its 3,370-hectare Covette project in Quebec’s James Bay region, one returned 1.2% zinc and 68.7 g/t silver, while three others assayed between 0.13% and 0.19% nickel.

Sampling took place along a visible strike of about 200 metres directly above an area of high conductivity found by a 2016 VTEM program that spotted several EM conductors coinciding with strong magnetic anomalies.

Underlying the region is a greenstone belt “comprised of various mafic to ultramafic rock units considered prospective for base and precious metals (nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group elements-gold-silver), as well as pegmatite-hosted rare metals (lithium-tantalum),” Saville reported. “Komatiites have also been described in the region with such rock types known to host significant nickel-copper massive sulphide deposits at other localities globally, adding further to the prospective nature of the region.”

Further plans include follow-up trenching and channel sampling. Saville filed a 43-101 technical report on the property and closed its 100% acquisition in June.

Covette sits about 190 kilometres east of the town of Radisson and 10 kilometres north of the all-weather Trans-Taiga road and the adjacent hydro-electricity transmission line.

In another northern Quebec project, Saville has a 43-101 technical report underway for the Miranna claims situated on the Eldor property that hosts Commerce Resources’ (TSXV:CCE) advanced-stage Ashram rare earths deposit. Saville would acquire a 75% earn-in subject to exchange approval. In April the companies released niobium-tantalum boulder sample grades as high as 4.3% Nb2O5 and 700 ppm Ta2O5.

Last month Saville offered two private placements totalling up to $2 million.